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2016 Jury Member

The Rolex Awards for Enterprise

Location: Canada

Chris HadfieldCanada

Astronaut, engineer, military pilot and author, Colonel Chris
Hadfield has brought the marvels of science and space to millions during
his three historic space flights and 2,600 orbits of Earth, harnessing
the power of social media to make outer space more accessible. “Of
the hundreds of astronauts who have gone into space, none has humanized
it quite the way Hadfield has,” says London’s Guardian. As a nine
year-old watching Neil Armstrong walk on the moon during the Apollo 11
mission, Hadfield decided he was going to become an astronaut. He joined
the Canadian Armed Forces and earned an engineering degree at the Royal
Military College, became a test pilot and obtained a master’s in
aviation systems at the University of Tennessee Space Institute.
Accomplishing many “firsts”, he was selected by the Canadian Space
Agency as a NASA Mission Specialist in 1992 and, three years later,
aboard Shuttle Atlantis, was the first Canadian to operate the robotic
Canadarm in space and the first to board a Russian spacecraft, docking
with the space station Mir. In 2001, aboard Shuttle Endeavour, he
performed two spacewalks ─ the first Canadian to do so ─ and, in 2013,
he was the first, and to date, only, Canadian Commander of the
International Space Station, where he spent five months and performed
hundreds of scientific experiments. The voyage was immortalized on video
when Hadfield played a rendition of David Bowie’s Space Oddity on his
guitar in space, which has garnered 200 million viewings and prompted
plans for a follow-up album. Hadfield retired after the expedition and,
since then, has published two best-selling books, An Astronaut’s Guide
to Life on Earth and You Are Here. Hadfield’s many awards include the
Order of Canada, the Meritorious Service Cross and the NASA Exceptional
Service Medal. He has also been commemorated on Canadian postage stamps,
coins and on the country’s newest five-dollar bill.